A Deeper Teaching by Kenton Cheek
The Ministry of Reconciliation
The Bible was written over a span of over 1,400 years, written on 3 different continents and yet has a cohesive narrative of the dealings of God with humanity through creation, corruption, catastrophe, confusion, Christ, cross, and consummation.
Jesus is the Word of God, the promises of God in bodily form. The Lord Jesus fulfilled over 300 Messianic prophecies, proving by those fulfillments and His miracles the Bible to be the trustworthy, authoritative Word of God to mankind.
The writers of the gospels recorded their accounts and the Apostle Paul quoted from them. The Apostle Peter referenced the letters of Paul which means that the New Testament was completed in the first century AD. We have over 24,000 manuscripts and manuscript fragments, making the Bible the most accurately preserved piece of ancient literature in the history of Planet Earth.
Within the Dead Sea Scrolls we have the earliest copies of the Old Testament including the entire book of Isaiah dated to over one hundred years before the birth of Jesus. Read Isaiah and it is like reading a biography of Jesus written long before He was born in Bethlehem. The Bible is a written record of revelation from God to us.
Why do I go into what the Bible is and why we can trust it? Because what we will learn or be reminded of today requires us to listen, learn, and put faith and truth into action in our lives. If I am going to obey someone, I want to be sure of who is giving the instructions and I want clarity on what I am to do.
I am called to help people discover their identity, community and destiny in Jesus. It is vital that you know who you are in Jesus. “In Him we live and move and have our being.” It is my heart’s craving that you grow spiritually and are healthy, balanced, well-rounded disciples of the Lord. Anything I can do to help you along in that endeavor, I’m here to do. My goal is for you to know who you are, where you fit, and where you’re going!
Part of why I shared about the origins and nature of the Bible this morning is that I need you to have a firm, strong firm foundation upon which to build your life. Christ and His Word are that foundation that will never fail. Satan does not want you to know who you are, where you fit and where you’re going. He wants you to be lost, confused and therefore weak. He knows that if you know your identity, community and destiny in Jesus that nothing can stop you. No weapon formed against you shall prosper! If God be for you, who can be against you? But you CANNOT have that strength without knowledge and that knowledge won’t do much good if you don’t put it into practice.
Christ and His Word form the very foundation of our faith. Jesus is the Ultimate Prophet, our Great High Priest and the King of Kings. We are called as sons and daughters of the Most High God to be prophets and prophetesses, priests and priestesses, kings and queens functioning in the authority, power and strength of God. Today we are going to focus on the part of our identity that we are priests and priestesses in the Kingdom of God and what our ministry is.
If you’re like me, you hear those things and think, HUH?! I’m a king? Have you seen the car I drive? I’m a prophet? I’m terrified of public speaking! I’m a priest? I am the least kind and caring and sympathetic person I know. Our first reaction is “HUH?” and then “NO, huh-uh!”
Your family and friends need you to fill these roles and work to fill them with excellence.
Prophet or Prophetess: One who speaks the word of God with the authority and prompting of the Holy Spirit. We are ALL called to do this. With regards to the gift of prophecy, which is something that God gives to some, it is speaking the Word of God in a timely manner. The Word is exactly what you need to hear when you need to hear it. Sometimes this speaks of future events. We must be careful to rightly divide the Word of Truth and ask God to give us words to speak.
Joel 2:28-29, “And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” This prophecy began to be fulfilled in Acts Chapter 2 and is still being fulfilled in these last days we’re living in.
“Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.” –I Corinthians 11:11-12
Priest or Priestess: Exodus 19:6 “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” I Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
God sees potential in human beings for greatness and they are to be treated with dignity and respect. That is how God sees you as His sons and daughters. You are His heirs according to the promise.
King or Queen: This has much to do with exercising our free moral agency, surrendering our will to the Father’s, functioning in His power and authority, and practicing wisdom and good stewardship of the blessings He has entrusted to us. Your decisions matter. Your decisions are important. They have a ripple effect from your life and into the lives of those around you.
Genesis 1: So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
The King James says that we would “have dominion over.” Notice also that male and female reflect the image of God together. There is no part of God that is inferior in any way. He is supreme and superior and perfect in all things and in every aspect of His being. Therefore men are not inferior to women and women are not inferior to men. God breaking down man-made cultural limitations on women is all over Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.
Psalm 8:4-6: what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c]
You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e]
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their[g] feet”
Galatians 3:28-29, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Revelation 1:6 reveals, “And hath made us kings and priests unto God the Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
Following the example of Jesus, we are to rule with humility as servants. We function not in our own power, strength, and authority, but in His who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Today we are going to focus on the part of our identity that we are priests and priestesses in the Kingdom of God and part of what our ministry is.
I believe that “every member of God’s eternal family is a minister.” The Great Commandment and the Great Commission were given to all disciples of Jesus. If you are a born again follower of Jesus, then you have been commanded and commissioned and you are being empowered and equipped to share the love and message of Jesus with others around you in our community, in our region, with those who are not like us, and around the world. Sometimes it is helpful for us to confess truth out loud “I am and I will be commanded, commissioned, empowered and equipped.”
If you are a priest or a priestess, then what is your ministry? Better yet, what is the quality of your ministry? We have been entrusted by the Lord with the ministry of reconciliation. Here is our main passage of Scripture for this morning:
II Corinthians 5:14-21:
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
God the Father is welcoming us to Him with open arms and His desire is that we be reconciled to Him and enjoy healthy, growing, deepening, life-giving relationship with Him. He want us to know Him and to know us in the context of spiritual relationship.
We are reconciled to God and it becomes our pleasure and honor to bring glory to God by helping others to be reconciled to Him too. Whatever your story is, you and your story matter to the Lord. He can use you to bring others into His Kingdom and strengthen their faith. You are a disciple-maker as you partner with the Lord and He works through you.
What is this ministry of reconciliation?
Sin, and all of its corrosive effects including physical and spiritual death, came through the disobedience of Adam and Eve. The second C of history is Corruption. Sin created impassible separation between fallen humanity and God, who is perfectly holy. The Scriptures reveal all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
He is the perfect Lamb of God and He took all of the sins of the entire world through all time and space upon Himself and paid the penalty for sin on the Cross. He conquered death by rising again on the third day and is now the only mediatory between human beings and Heavenly Father. The message and ministry of reconciliation is that by grace (the undeserved favor of God) through faith (choosing to believe and trust in Jesus), we can experience the new birth and be reconciled to God.
At the moment we are born again, we go from being enemies of God to His friends and are adopted into the eternal family of God as His sons and daughters. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the Day of Redemption when we will be united with God in perfect unity and harmony. This is the ultimate goal of our faith. We are partakers of His divine nature. We are all on our own journeys of becoming more and more like Jesus from glory to glory.
As we go through this wonderful, beautiful, messy, sometimes painful other times joyous process of sanctification, we become more in tune with God and the Body of Christ as we learn to keep in step with the Spirit. All of this is too good to keep to ourselves! We must share this with others. How do we minister reconciliation with those around us?
You are and will be commanded to love God, love others, and love yourself as He does.
You are and will be commissioned to make healthy, balanced, well-rounded followers of Jesus.
You are and will be empowered by the Holy Spirit. How do we receive His power and passion for ministry? We ask for it in faith.
You are and will be equipped for the work of the ministry through your own spiritual growth, sanctification and discipleship. This happens through spending time with God in prayer and worship and Bible study, being around your brothers and sisters in Christ to encourage and be encouraged, serving in the ministries of the church, being brave and sharing your testimony of the Good News of Jesus with others, and growing in knowledge and practical wisdom found in Christ and His Word.
I would like to zero in on one key element of the ministry of reconciliation and that is forgiveness. We have been forgiven of our sins by God and we are to extend the grace and mercy of forgiveness with others. You cannot share with others what you have not experienced yourselves.
I John 1:7-9 says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” If we believe, confess, repent and receive, we need to simply trust that God has forgiven us and rest in that forgiveness. Trust Him for it. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
We were enemies of God in our sins and transgressions, but we are given right standing with God the Father through the blood atonement of God the Son. This work is done in our hearts and lives by God the Holy Spirit. Grace is God’s undeserved favor. Mercy is that He does not treat as our sins deserve. Love is that He laid down His life for us when we did not deserve it. We are to extend grace, mercy and love to others by the way that we speak, think and act. I do not honor the Lord in all that I say, think and do. I am not perfect, but I’m precious to God and so are you. He knows we will fail, it is what you choose to do with your mistakes that makes all the difference to your spiritual health and growth.
You are born again if you believe, repent, confess and receive Jesus as God of your life. Your spirit is made alive and fused with the Holy Spirit. FUSION. You still have your flesh. The Spirit battles against your natural man or natural woman. Bitterness and resentment are not of God. That comes from your flesh.
When someone hurts you:
Heavenly Father is our Perfect Parent. He is Love. He is not abusive in any way. Unfortunately some mothers and fathers give their children commands without any instructions and expect them to obey without explanation. Our God is not like that at all. He knows what is best for us, gives us the guidance of His precepts and principles, and then blesses us with the tools we need to accomplish His will upon the Earth. If we turn over control to Him and yield to the movement of His Holy Spirit within us, He will actually do the work through us.
In this world, filled with conflict and turmoil as a result of the sins of mankind, He has laid out a way for us to be reconciled. When we were spiritual dead in our sins, we were enemies of God. But by believing and receiving Jesus as Lord, the Spirit applies the atoning, cleansing blood of the Savior to our lives and we are adopted into the eternal family of God. We have peace with God the Father through God the Son.
Not only are we given the commission to share that love and message with others,[6] but He has also given us practical directions on how to see His peace in our daily lives. When you have been hurt or wronged, pray for them. Even if you pray that God smites them. Pray. IF you are faithful to pray for them, God will supernaturally softens and change your prayers and your heart. You will eventually pray for their good. If you are not faithful to pray, you will miss out on countless blessings and this process will not work. Ask God to heal your heart and repair the damage. When I find myself in conflict with someone, the first step is for me to pray for them.
Make the decision to release them from your grudge. This is repentance. It’s a decision and a work of God to change your mind about sin. We are wanting God to change our hearts and minds about the hurt we have experienced and the people who have hurt us, in some cases, caused injury and pain to our core. If we are to heal, the arrow must be removed. You have to choose to let God remove the arrow. Release them. Let it go. Sometimes that person is so hardened by hurt and hurting others that they have no clue that they hurt you. This is what makes forgiveness is more about you than it is about anyone else.
Sometimes it is better for both parties that there is a cooling off period, but not too much time because I don’t want my ill feelings to fester and resentment to set in.[9] As I pray for them, I also pray for wisdom and for God to give me the words to say to the other party. The Lord Jesus calls us to be bold and go to the other person or group and communicate with them about what is bothering us.
Tell the person who hurt you that you forgive them and that you are praying for them. This is the only piece of the Lord’s vengeance that He will share with you. Forgiveness, prayers and love heap burning coals on their heads.
If the situation is too tense or the other party is dangerous, then it is prudent to have a conversation with them in a safe setting. If going to them one on one does not produce peace, then we are to take along a brother or sister with us. If they still will not listen, we are to bring the situation to the elders of the church. At that point, if the other party still will not cooperate, then we are instructed by the Apostle Paul to hand them over to Satan, which means to exclude them from fellowship until they are ready to repent. This preserves the value of our fellowship and protects the family of God. If the offender shows genuine repentance, they should be restored with love, grace and mercy.
This process laid out by our Lord gives us a healthy plan for forgiveness, conflict resolution and restoration. We are called to do whatever we can to bring peace to our daily lives. We are to put God’s plan into action,[16] but there is a certain point where if the other person is not reciprocating, then we pray and leave them to the Lord. At that point, a maxim my wife found in some of my Grandma’s sermon notes after she passed comes into play. “Not my fault, not my problem, not my failure.” Once we have done everything God has called us to do, we are released from the process and we continue to pray for peace. Jesus tells us to shake the dust off your feet and move on. Forgiveness is mandatory and is more about me. Restoration of relationship is hoped for and worked for, but not required if the effort for reconciliation is not mutual. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make them drink. What we can do is pray without ceasing for them and the situation and move forward in faith, hand in hand with Jesus or Redeemer.
We have received forgiveness from Jesus and we are to minister reconciliation with God and forgiveness among ourselves to everyone.
Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God 
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